


Let's Take it Back (in time period)

by ocean_dreamer



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Gen, but i had a crappy week so, but its in the 1900s so it's not really stated, i don't know how to write may x nat but i tired, nat/may is implied, no beta we die like men, this is so late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-01-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22429879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ocean_dreamer/pseuds/ocean_dreamer
Summary: Tony reveals he wants to give Peter the company. Peter has a crisis.Historical and no powers AU set in 1908/1910A (late) gift fic in the irondad spiderson fic exchange
Relationships: May Parker & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man)/Natasha Romanov, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 12
Kudos: 48
Collections: Irondad Fic Exchange 2019





	Let's Take it Back (in time period)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shetheybrucebanner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shetheybrucebanner/gifts).



> So this is super late and i actually don't like the second half of it, but I had a really crappy week and so this is what I have managed to produce. I'm so sorry if you hate it, but let me know what you think.
> 
> Out of the original three prompts, I used the no powers and historical ones and kinda smashed them together. Also the Nat/May is in there, but since this w=took place in the 1900s and it was a Peter & Tony centric fic, I didn't show them too much. Hope that's okay and i hope you enjoyed.

Two years ago: 1908  
“Remind me why I’m doing this again.” Tony Stark said, brushing his hair back in the mirror. 

“Because with your public scandal involving Kilian and his subsequent death, you need some good press.” Answered Virginia “Pepper” Potts, Tony’s partner in both personal and professional life. Tony figured she pretty much ran the company, even though her name wasn’t officially on the book as anything besides his assistant.  
“You went to this school when you were young; they’re smart kids.”

“Some of them are just entitled assholes.” Pepper gave him a look.  
“Ok, so was I but at least I’m a genius. What if I built something to like power the city? Or a non lethal gun or something?” Tony argued. 

“You’re going Tony. And you have to leave in 20.”

An hour later, Tony Stark’s car pulled into the parking lot of Midtown Tech. His bodyguard, Happy Hogan parked in a spot behind the school and followed Tony inside.  
“Mr. Stark!” A middle aged man shook Tony’s hand excitedly.  
“My name is principal Morita. I can’t tell you how much of a pleasure it is to have you here.”  
Tony gave a short nod. “And the kids are?”  
Morita straighted, snapping out of his fanboy page. “In the library. Right this way.” Tony followed Morita two steps behind, his eyes taking in the projects on the walls, some of which were actually very impressive. Not that he would tell anyone that, least of all Pepper.  
Morita led him into a large room, the bookshelves covered with pieces of fabric and the wooden tables laden with small feats of engineering or design. “Feel free to look around, Mr. Stark, these are some of the best and brightest minds in the states.”  
Tony nodded distractedly, his eyes roaming the room. It was two people per table, and the kids were standing in front of their projects and talking amongst themselves. He made a beeline for the only project in the room that was at its own table.  
“So what do we have here?”  
The kids by the table stood up, unabashed. “Mr. Stark. My name is Flash Thompson, I’m sure you know my parents, and I have created-“  
Tony cut him off with a look. “I know the Thompsons, yes. If I remember right, they” he poked flash’s model and it fell with a thud, hollow. “tend to be full of showmanship and not talent.”  
Flash sputtered. “I’m the best and smartest person here, you’re making a mistake, you know!” Tony turned around.  
“Try for Hammer, kid.”  
Twenty minutes later, Tony had seen designs for everything from a new style of telephone (which he found impractical and unnecessary) to a new grip on rifles (which wasn’t bad, but not for him). He was ready to leave. He turned to Happy, who had been not so subtly standing behind him the entire time.  
“What’s the chance Pepper kicks me to the couch if I come back without picking anything good?” Happy grunted. “Yeah that’s what I thought too.”  
Tony’s eyes scoured the room and landed on a boy in the back. He was dressed the same as the other kids, but the materials were worn and definitely not the size this kid needed to be wearing. He was rather short and skinny, and the inky thing Tony had seen him do the entire time was make eye contact with a kid across the room.  
He walked over anyway. He didn’t regret it.  
The design on the table was for a new engine for the Ford, the same model tony himself owned. The only model out, even. The car was a new convenience, and Tony had been looking for the missing piece he needed in order to soup it up. This kid, Tony saw, had it.  
“What’s your name kid?” The boy paused, open mouthed. “Kid?”  
“Umm Parker Peter, I-I mean Peter Parker. My name is Peter. Parker.”  
Tony but the inside of his lip to repress a smirk. “Parker? You’re not a money family, are you.” The boy,Peter, looked down his eyes fixated on a spot on the wooden floor. “No, sir, I’m here on scholarship.”  
Tony nodded. “Hmm.” He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card. “Don’t be afraid to call, kid.” He put the card on the table and turned to leave.  
Peter’s jaw dropped. “Ok, uh yes sir, thank you sir. I will, sir.”  
Tony smirked and didn’t turn back. “Happy, this is why you never question Pepper Potts.”  
-  
Peter got back from school at around 4pm. He unlocked the door and dropped the keys twice before running into the main room.  
“May, you’ll never believe what happened-“ He cut off. Standing next to May was a woman with bright red hair, tied up in a knot at the base of her skull. The woman put her hand lightly on May’s shoulder. “I’ll see you soon. Stay safe.” She headed out the door, sending Peter a small smile as she left.  
“Who was that?”  
May smiled at the door for a few seconds, then shook her head. “Natasha. She’s a fellow suffragette.” She turned towards Peter. “So what happened in school today?”  
“Oh!” Peter’s hand went to his pocket, where he’d stored the card given to him by Tony Stark. “You’ll never believe who came to the exhibition today!”  
-  
Tony entered his penthouse and immediately pulled off his tie, unbuttoning the first two buttons of his shirt as he sat on a chair by the window. Pepper came in from the study, carrying a stack of documents. “So how was it?”  
Tony looked up at her and sighed. “Well, there was this kid…”

Now: 1910  
“I’m back, May!” Peter Parker said, raising his voice so it could be heard throughout their small apartment. The seventeen year old engineering prodigy was under the care of his aunt after his parents died from disease when he was six. His uncle, May’s husband Ben, died of a heart condition a few years ago. 

He stepped into her room, barely large enough for the mats on the floor and dresser in front, yet larger than any place they’d lived in since Ben died, unsurprised to see a red headed woman on the bed bedside her. 

“Hello Ms. Natasha.”

The two women sat on the bed next to each other, hands intertwined. 

May looked up rom where her eyes were locked on Natasha’s. “Oh, Peter. We were about to go off to a meeting.” She stood up, hand still locked with Nat’s. “And don’t forget, I have to do a drop of and pick up for Mr. Schane’s weekly laundry, so I’ll be back later then usual.” 

Peter nodded. “I remember. Be safe.” 

“I will baby.” May headed out the door. Natasha gave Peter a smile and a small wave before following.

After retrieving the paper he needed from his bedroom to complete the assignments due the next school day, Peter noticed a thin envelope on the table. He smiled. The envelope was familiar, a white parchment stamped with the Stark red wax seal. 

Hey kid,  
Don’t forget about tomorrow evening. 5 pm ok?  
-Tony 

Peter ran his thumb over the now familiar seal. Two years later and it wasn’t real. How, out of everybody else in the world, do Tony Stark choose him?

-  
Peter walked into the workshop with little hesitation. This was the safe space, the place where the rules of society didn’t exist. It was only him, his mentor, and the workshop. No crazy expectations. 

“Hey Pete.”  
Tony rolled out from underneath a black Starkmobile, the car created as a joint project between Stark Industries and Henry Ford’s car company. The design that caught Tony’s eye from Peter’s exhibit became the base of the first model that was made available to the public in 1909. The newest version was Tony and Peter’s current project, and they were so close to being able to present it to the board. 

“Ready to do this?”  
Peter grabbed the goggles on the hook next to the door and shed his waistcoat and shoes, leaving them on a worn wooden chair, Peter’s one addition to the furniture in the room.  
“Ready.”

Three hours later, Tony pulled them out of the job.  
“Alright, that’s enough for today.”  
Peter looked up, startled. Usually they worked through supper time and ate late, especially when Peter had no obligations the next day.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Stark?” He asked, pushing his goggles to the top of his head. 

Tony sighed. “Nothing’s wrong kid. I just want to talk.” The inventor walked over towards a table and sat down on the bench. “Sit.” 

Peter sat where he was directed and opened his mouth to retort. “Mr. Stark…”

Tony put up a hand. “Ah, ah. Me first.”

Peter closed his mouth. 

“So um, I’ve been thinking, you’re going to be 18 soon and I am not getting any younger, and it’s honestly unlikely that I’ll end up even having kids at this point, and even if I did, they won’t be old enough for the job when I really need them to be and if it’s not a boy it doesn’t really matter anyway because I have a solution. And you have to say yes, of course. And the press will have a field day and the board might kill me, but pepper says it’s a good idea and I think May would be willing to let it happen if you asked, so what do you think?”

Peter blinked twice. “Think about what?”

“Oh, right.” Tony said nervously. Tony Stark was never supposed to be nervous. “I want, when you turn 18, to give to the company. You can still go to college, of course, you’d have to, but after that.”

Peter’s jaw dropped. He was overwhelmed. What do you do when your mentor/ father figure asks you to run his legacy billion dollar business? Run apparently. 

He only managed an “I-I’ll think about it.” Before running out of the room. 

-

Tony stared at the door for the next hour, until Pepper came down and sat next to him. 

“So how’d it go?” 

Tony rubbed his face with his hands. “Of course he’s say no, he can do so much better.” 

“He said no?” She sounded surprised. 

Tony shook his head. “He didn’t say it, but it was all over his face. Why did I do that?” 

Pepper rubbed her hand comfortingly over his back. “I’m sure he didn’t mean no. If your idol just told you that you were going to own the most influential company in the world, would you just know exactly what to do? Give him time.”

Tony sighed, resting his forehead on her shoulder. “Yeah. Time.”

-

When Peter got home, it was dark, and the house was quiet, save for soft music coming from the direction of May’s room. 

Peter sighed. If his aunt was home and listening to music, it meant that she had a rare bit of time off. But there was no one else he wanted to talk to. Peter knocked on the door. 

“May?” Peter heard the music shut off. 

“You can come in, I’m just folding laundry.”

Peter entered the room, lingering by the doorway. 

“What’s wrong Peter? You’re back early.”

Peter sighed, and took a seat on the edge of May’s bed, moving a small stack of what he knew was his clothing. 

“I was- we- Mr. Stark. I- He said something… asked something and I don’t know what to do.” Peter rubbed his fingers against his trousers. 

May put the laundry she was folding aside and turned to face him. “What’s got you so shaken up?” 

Peter took a deep breath. “He wants me to take over his company. As the heir to Stark Industries. And I don’t know why he’d pick me.”

May chuckled. “Why wouldn’t he pick you, Peter? I can’t think of anyone else who is as brave and strong and smart as you and who understands the value of hard work to get where you need to go. You are a perfect choice.”

Peter bit his lip, his eyes fixed on the carpet. “Maybe, but why me? There are many smart people in the world. He could pick any of them.”

“Because he loves you, Peter. You love him. I know I’ve never truly approved of Tony Stark, but whether I like it or not, he has become a part of your family. You are his family too. And he trusts you, more than just anyone.” 

May sighed. “It’s your decision, at the end. But I think you should just talk to him.”

Peter’s eyes went wide. “I just ran out. Oh no oh no I have to fix this. I have to talk to him.”

He stood up and gave his aunt a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks May, gotta go.”

-

It took longer than Peter would have like to finally get a carriage to take him to Stark Tower. By the time he got there and up to the penthouse, it was late. He didn’t even bother checking the rooms. After a day like today, Tony would be in the workshop. 

Peter knocked on the door before entering, jarring Tony out of the cloud he’d been under since Peter left. 

“Mr. Stark? I know I screwed up, but I’m ready now.”

Tony pulled up his goggles and put down the hammer he was holding. 

“I get it kid, I was too forward. It was a lot, it’s not a big deal. If your flow is just staying on as my intern, I get it.”

Peter took a step forward and sat down on the hood of the car they’d been working on just that morning. 

“That’s not what I meant. I’m ready to accept your offer. I mean, not right now, but eventually. After college, and maybe even after that. I really like working with you and it took May to help me see that this is more than a job to me. You’ve always been more than a job to me.” 

Tony took a seat next to Peter on the car and laughed, a huge belly laugh that had Peter jumping out of his seat. 

“What? Was it something I said?”

“I spent all this time thinking I would need to comb the world for someone I would even consider taking as my successor and here you come, just right in front of me. And you know what, Peter?” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I love you, kid. You are the smartest and most kindhearted person I have ever met and you will change the world. Heck, you don’t need my company to do it. I know you don’t. And if you don’t want it, I don’t care. If you want it ten years from now, that’s fine.” Deep brown eyes met shining amber orbs. “You will change the world. You.”

Peter made to hug Tony, then pulled back. The engineer pulled him back in, wrapping his arms around Peter’s shoulders and squeezing before letting go. The teen’s eyes were sparkling. “I love you too. You and May, you’re my family.” 

Tony laughed. “My family is going to change the world.”

“If I’m going to change the world, Mr. Stark, I want to do it with you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a note and tell me how i did!!


End file.
